Episode 8: What Does Gut Health Really Mean?

You’ve heard gut health is important, but can you define what “gut health” actually is? This episode is a conversation about what I believe gut health actually looks like, how you can measure where yours is now, as well as how it improves over time.

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Don’t forget to connect to others in The GUT Community, a Facebook group for those with IBS and digestive disorders to support one another and dive deeper into each episode together.

Welcome back to The Gut Show! I am really excited for this conversation, and also a little nervous….I'm telling you that because I want you to know that this is a topic that is very nuanced, and it's a topic that I think about often because that's something that I get asked about frequently, but I never really know how to answer it because there's not a clear answer out there. So this is me just opening up and having a conversation, just like we would if you and I were sitting down with a cup of tea or coffee, and chatting about the topic of gut health.

So what does gut health really mean? We're gonna go back into a little bit of the definitions of health that we've talked about in previous episodes, and then we're gonna break it down in a little bit of a deeper context around the idea of gut health specifically, and then what that might look like for those who are dealing with chronic illness around the gut, whether that be a digestive disorder, or a GI condition like IBD, Crohn's, anything going on like that.

So if you remember, the two definitions of health, the original definition is the state of being free from illness or injury. Remember, when we talked about that, we said, that's not actually a great definition, because that doesn't take into account other aspects of health beyond the physical. And so we go by the WHO definition of health, which is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being, and not merely the absence of disease. So that also brings in the layers of determinants of health and things like that, that we want to take into account when we're looking at the health of a person. So remember, just because you are physically healthy, meaning there may not be actual disease, which is technically true with IBS, we know that mental health and social well being and emotional well being, those can be low. And so while your physical health might be high, your mental, social and emotional well being is very low, and so we can't say that you are a healthy person, when most of the components of your health are low.

The same is true whenever we are looking at the health of the gut. So whenever we break this down, to meet that definition, we're looking at a state of complete physical, mental and social well being for the gut and with the gut in mind. So that would include physical proper digestion, absorption of nutrients, elimination of waste, and immune function. So those are our physical aspects of gut health. And that, you know, is the, the absence of disease would be the abcense of inflammation, autoimmune response, dysfunction. And so we're looking at the proper function of the gut as a whole.

And then whenever we're looking at the other aspects, so the mental, social and emotional side, we know that with mental well being, that if there is increased anxiety around the way that the gut is functioning, if there is increased depression based on the status of the gut, so while the gut may not be in a place of disease, or damage or anything like that, if the makeup of the microbiome and the makeup of bacteria is not optimal to help improve mood, and stabilize mood, then that would be a state of an “unhealthy” gut from a mental well being and mental health standpoint. We know that our emotional well being, so that kind of goes back into mood, most of the serotonin is produced in the gut, so thinking about emotional well being is very important. And then social well being. So if the way that the gut is functioning, or even the way that we approach how we try to improve the health of the gut, if that interferes with social well being, so that means avoiding relationships, not being able to eat with family, engage in cultural practices and traditions, then that may mean that the social well being of the gut is actually low, which would create a state of unhealthy rights to lower on that health spectrum.

So the way that I would personally define gut health would be: the gut can perform all physical functions effectively without over restriction of diet, without anxiety around the function of the gut. and without so many rules that there is no social life allowed in the gut health plan. So when we're looking at health, we want to look at it as a spectrum, right? There isn't just a state of being you're either healthy, or you're unhealthy, health is always on a spectrum. So whenever you break down that definition, there might be even multiple spectrums of physical health, mental health, social well being, and you might fall on that spectrum. And you may all you know, kind of go in a little bit of a flow between different points of the spectrum day by day, especially pulling in that social and mental well being. And it's really good and healthy to actually be on the spectrum and to flow a little bit on the spectrum, because we know that being in that perfect state of health doesn't really exist. And then the being completely unhealthy probably doesn't exist, either most of us are going to flow, and we're going to continue growing, and that's where awareness really comes into the picture.

So just taking a little bit of a step back or a pause, something that I want to talk about before we dive into determining where you fit on your spectrum, and what to do with that, I want to talk about a concept called healthism. So this is where those who are less healthy due to a condition, or some other reason are considered less than others. So those who maybe are higher on the spectrum, or trying to get higher on a spectrum, put themselves in a place where they are superior to those who are lower on the spectrum. This shows up the most whenever we are in social media or cultural media places, and it is definitely strong in the area of gut health. So how this might look is saying, oh, well, I only eat organic and then you're looking down on those who don't eat organic produce. And so there's this idea of healthism, that eating organic has somehow put you higher on the spectrum, which then makes you superior.

Another part of this could be in the area of IBS management of okay, well, I have my routines in place, and I exercise every single day and I don't eat my trigger foods, I make sure that I'm getting my variety, whatever it may be, putting yourself in a place where you are thinking that you are closer to that high end of the spectrum, and that that makes you superior, so then we look down on others who either choose not to be, which is fine, or are not able to be where you may be on the spectrum. So it's good to understand there are spectrums, we all are on the spectrum somewhere, and there might be some blocks or barriers for some people on that spectrum that will keep them from getting to a higher place. And so instead of thinking about always wanting to be higher on the spectrum and comparing ourselves to others based on our spectrum, it's more important to think about where am I personally, what barriers are in place for me personally, and what does progress look like for me personally, and then knowing that what is going on for me personally may not be going on for someone else. So I'm not going to compare myself to them, either thinking I'm superior or inferior to them. And I'm also not going to hold them to the standards, maybe I've set for myself based on my own spectrum and where I am

This is a conversation I'm actually very excited to have in our private Facebook group, The Gut Community, this is going to be a unique episode and we want to hear your perspectives, I wish you were in the room physically with me, right in front of me so that you can share your dialogue. So whatever thoughts are coming out, I want you to open up The Gut Community on Facebook right now and start typing them out to share with others, the thoughts that are coming through your head when we're talking about the area of healthism, when we're talking about the definition of gut health, and then whenever we're looking at the spectrum and how individual these spectrums might be.

So here's some ways that you can start determining your own status of gut health, or start writing out maybe your own spectrum. So I think what's most important when you're looking at what gut health truly means is we have the objective, kind of measurements that are stuck here, and that's the function of the gut, so are you digesting food okay? If you know that you are not, you'll know that there's undigested food in the stool, maybe symptoms like significant gas and bloating, vomiting, reflux, maybe you're not eliminating food or waste, those would all be signs that you're not digesting food okay.

Are you absorbing food properly?And so here we might see vitamin and mineral deficiencies, things like that, we might see very low energy and fatigue here, we might see rapid weight loss her, sometimes weight gain can also be linked to poor absorption. If there's inflammation present, which we see with celiac disease, IBD, other autoimmune disorders that contribute to inflammation in the gut, we might not be absorbing nutrients because that inflammation can interfere with the barrier where that absorption takes place.

And then, are you eliminating waste properly? So our body has this incredible way of detoxifying, and we love the word detox in the gut health world, right? Because that's where people sell a lot of products. What I want you to think about when thinking about detox is eliminating waste, which happens through urine, sweat, and feces. Urine and feces are the numbers are the two top ones, right? So are you peeing? Well, are you actually peeing? If you're not, that's a sign to go to the doctor. And are you eliminating waste, are you having regular bowel movements? And is that process of elimination happening efficiently? So are you having well-formed stool? The last piece in terms of the physical component and those more objective measurements is do you have a condition or a barrier to any of the above that we talked about working properly? Are there barriers in place?

And so if you're drawing out your spectrum, you'll have those different pieces to think about, and then you may write lines where you may have barriers. And so the barriers could be if you have a small bowel, short bowel, if you have a colostomy bag, that might change the way that you absorb, if you have IBS that's very uncontrolled, currently, and things are moving either too fast or too slow, if you are dealing with inflammation that hasn't been treated or heal properly, that's going to be interfering. So you want to know what those barriers are, and then within those barriers, what would be the next step or the next steps in order to manage or treat those conditions or take care of those barriers? You may not have them, and if that's true, then that's the reality of where you're living and that's a barrier that might be in place, more long term, there may actually be steps available, and so that we give you that step by step of okay, what does it look like to move up the spectrum of health from a physical gut health standpoint? And then that may come from providers, or if there are question marks you can write those question marks out and ist ideas of what you think it would look like, so decreasing inflammation, checking gut barrier function, checking to make sure that your body is then absorbing nutrients and utilizing them well, eliminating waste properly and so on.

Whenever we're looking at kind of the mental-emotional piece, that's where things get a little bit more subjective versus objective. So on that spectrum, some of the questions that you want to ask and navigate are, do you have a good relationship with your body and your gut? So do you actually have a good relationship with your gut? We see a lot of distrust with IBS, which we talked about in previous episodes, so this is something to assess. Do you have a good relationship with food? So we can't talk about gut health without talking about food! So is there a lot of anxiety around meals? Is there a lot of anxiety around certain types of foods? Is there a lot of restriction in place? That's a sign that there's not a good relationship. And so it's really important to navigate okay, do I have a good relationship with food? How do I feel? Is there anxiety around going to the bathroom and the function of my gut? Is there anxiety around symptoms that I might be experiencing? And then you can go deeper into that around, okay, what mental health pieces are here that could be linked to my gut? Depression, anxiety, fatigue, brain fog, those different things, so kind of navigating where am I, what does this spectrum look like? And then the same thing, are there barriers in place that may either need to be worked on long term or may not actually change for you specifically?

And then going into social well being, this is where we'll say, are my restrictions holding me back from engaging in relationships with others? Am I isolating myself from others to keep my gut in control? Think about the social well being aspects of your gut health plan, where you fit on that spectrum, and what it would look like to move forward as well as any barriers, again that are in place, is IBS or your digestive condition or your state of well being with your gut, holding you back from engaging in new experiences, or travel, whatever might be considered social wellbeing for you. So going through those different questions, processing that out and creating your own spectrum, which I really recommend journaling this out, writing it out, you know, maybe drawing it out and being able to create these spectrums, ask these questions, and then navigate where you are without judgment of where that is, because where you start is okay! It's okay that you're at a certain place on your spectrum. It's okay that your spectrum might look different than mine. Remember, we're not comparing, this is personal. Once you know where you are, you can actually utilize those different prompts and those different questions and utilize a visual of your spectrum in order to determine how you are growing and changing over time. So the goal is to move up the spectrum as much as we can. Again, it looks different for us all. And so whenever we're coming back to assess where we're going and where we have gone, then we can use the prompts to visualize what that looks like.

That's a lot of information. I hope that this was a helpful, quick conversation. This is a short, short episode because it is meant to be more interactive. So I want you to take a moment, maybe listen to it again, take some time to journal things out and then go to the Facebook group, the gut community and let me know what you are thinking. As always, I see you, I hear you, I’m with you, and I cannot wait to get to know you more! Thank you for tuning in, and I’ll see you on the next episode!